PETALING JAYA: Veteran business journalist Philemon Soon, who helped start theSun in 1993 and was its founding publisher, managing director and editor-in-chief, died yesterday aged 69 at the Amber Villa nursing home in Tanjung Rambutan, Ipoh.
His wife Diana Koh said Soon battled end-stage renal failure for the past four years and took his final breath surrounded by family and close friends at 3.30am.
Those near and dear to him gathered to pay their last respects at the Heavenly Home Christian Memorial Hall yesterday at 79, Jalan Masjid in Ipoh, Perak.
The wake will be held at 8pm tonight at the same venue while the funeral service will be held at the Kek Look Seah Crematorium at 36, Lorong Industri Putra 1, Desa Perindustrian Putra in Ipoh at 10am tomorrow.
Koh said Soon was alert until the last moment and they shared a few jokes with him.
“We had about 1.5 hours with him before he passed. He kept himself awake to look at us until the final moment, when he closed his eyes and took his last breath. That was what Phil wanted. To be with us, his family, until the last moment.
“We will all remember him for his journalistic passion. He always wanted to start a newspaper and this came true through theSun.“
In his long career spanning close to 40 years, Soon worked for Business Times, The Star, Straits Echo and Sports Toto.
